Blowing Candles
by Yochanan Suishoukin
Summary: No matter what, the day when you came to be is important.[3. This is why Yamamoto told everyone to forget about his birthday]
1. Birth in Night

**_31st December/1st January_**

Urahara had been everywhere in their new home, from the basement, the storage room, their bedrooms, and even to the rooftop, where Yoruichi would usually be at nights. This night appeared to be unusual. It should be, considering the day the next day was. But Yoruichi wasn't there, and for now he had no idea where to look.

So Urahara sat down, spinning his newly-bought hat (Yoruichi had said that together with the sandals, it completed his image of idiocy) with one finger, and tried to think like a cat with Yoruichi's mind. Almost instantly, he put the hat back on and snapped his fingers together.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Normally, no cat had ever set its paws on the top of Karakura's highest building. No cat had ever managed to climb a 10-storey building, and only to sit on the edge, _staring_into the sky for hours. This black cat could, however. And so could the weirdly dressed blonde man dangling from the tip of his cane, its hilt hooked around the railing. He was extremely calm with his daring actions, and his concern seemed to be how to keep his hat on his head all of the time. The cat paid him no attention. The people around them didn't either, they were directing their attention to the fireworks show that was in preparation.

"Why, Yoruichi-san, what are you doing here?" He finally asked, still dangling on the same spot. "And as a cat?"

The cat didn't answer, nor did she change her expression. Urahara sighed, and finally pulled himself up. He settled on sitting beside Yoruichi. From here, he studied her with great interest.

"Does the princess miss her home?" He said teasingly. He knew she did, because even he did. Yoruichi had always denied it in a fashion that it was worth the whacks he'd had later on to ask her times and times.

This time, the cat only sighed and looked down instead of retorting. Urahara sweatdropped. Perhaps he really had been talking to a stray cat...A stray cat that could grin widely in a sudden, it seems. He even yelped when that happened.

"Ha! Never thought you'd fall for that! So you finally decided to seek me out? Here I thought the birthday boy was still enjoying his first birthday on mortal world."

Urahara slapped his forehead. Indeed he was fooled, for a second there he thought she was sulking. "Well, Yoruichi-san, the thirty-first of December is never as important as the first of January!"

"Yes it is, Kisuke, It's the end of the year."

"Might be, but it's the beginning of the year they celebrate with fireworks!"

Yoruichi rolled her eyes. "Oh, please, they celebrate the second those two days merge anyways."

"Not really. It's the first second of that new year that they celebrate."

"Oh, cut the crap."

They resumed sitting and watching the commotion down on the road, where people were marching for New Year's events. Urahara nearly forgot he was sitting with someone when the voice said, "If you must know, I do miss it."

Urahara turned his head so fast he cricked his neck. Did Yoruichi just admit that she missed her old life without any understatement, or worse, whacks?

"Really, you should have known that. I miss nearly everything of it...nearly. At least here I won't have to worry about your new inventions."

Urahara made a mental note to tell her about the very-heavily-sealed package in their storeroom later. Yoruichi must have developed some kind of telepathy, for she shot, "You haven't created anything weird, have you?"

"Oh, look, it's starting!"

And indeed, the people gathering were already counting down to one, following the ticking clock tower.

_3...2...1..._

At the same time as they shouted 'zero', the fireworks set off, coloring the black sky.

"Happy birthday, Yoruichi-san!" With that, Urahara slapped Yoruichi down from her position, falling freely from some heights. Yoruichi cried in surprise, before remembering that she could stop in mid-air. So she did, and turning her head upwards to glare at Urahara. She would really enjoy chasing him around Karakura.

Later on, Yoruichi would find out that chasing him all day, along with the watch she got the night when they had to crawl back to their home, was meant to be her birthday present.


	2. Between Two Choices

**_Birthday: Kuchiki Rukia_**

**_Date: 13th, 14th of January_**

**_Notable things: I skip the Ikkanzaka brothers. I'm sure no one minds, if there is any chance that someone wants to see it (I doubt it greatly) you can give me a prompt._**

It was a doll. A clean, white, shiny Chappy the Rabbit doll. Normally, Ichigo wouldn't be caught dead having _any_ associations with it, much less staring at it. He was doing it right now, in fact his hand had been twitching for minutes while he stared, and a mental battle issued. It was the only doll left in the whole Karakura. It was the only thing he could think of giving to her. It was only one day to her birthday.

Ichigo had never cared for other girls' birthday, the most he could give to them was a brief 'happy birthday' and he was back into his permanent scowl. Of course, he did give Tatsuki something (a hairpin, which she promptly tossed to him), and he always gave Yuzu and Karin something, but it was because he had known them the longest.

Ichigo looked left and right. The store was almost empty, save for the keeper, who had been glaring at him as though suspecting a shoplifter to do something in an _empty_ room, _watched _by the owner. Sure thing, he thought as he rolled his eyes.

He fidgeted nervously. It would only cost him a week's allowance, no biggie. Then again, it was her reaction he was afraid of. Be it killing him, or suffocating him with a bear hug (he could always hung her on a tree afterwards, she was too short for him). He was also afraid of what his acquaintances would say about it, especially his dad. But mostly, it didn't just feel right standing in a _girl_ _stuff_ shop, staring at an obviously girl only doll.

Whatever.

He reached a hand out tentatively for seemingly an eternity...

When he caught someone's hand instead. He blinked and turned his head, coming face to face with none other than Abarai Renji. They simultaneously withdrew their hands as though they had been contaminated and shouted at the precisely same time.

"What are you doing here!" "What are you doing here!"

"Don't answer my question with a question, baka!" "I'm asking you first, idiot!"

By this time, the shop owner had become so annoyed he actually had already had a finger on the phone's button '1'.

"Again, what are _you _out of all people in the world doing in a girl's store like this?" Ichigo practically yelled at Renji.

"Look at who's talking! I was just here for Rukia's birthday so that she'd stop nagging me!" Renji yelled back, blushing slightly.

"W-What? I'm here for that reason too! In any case, I'm here first, so this is mine!" Ichigo snatched the doll protectively. Renji's lips twitched.

"Oh, yeah? Well, you were staring at it for a very long time I thought you were trying to memorize it! Gimme that!" Renji groped for it, and Ichigo hid it behind his back. Renji quickly walked around him, trying for the doll. Ichigo lifted it higher, and continually moving the doll around, out of the redhead's reach. The shop owner had pressed the '1' button again.

"You've been with her for years! Why're you still celebrating her birthday after hundreds of years?" Ichigo reasoned, diving forward to avoid yet another one of Renji's attacks. The redhead growled frustrated.

"'Cause it's the first time I can really give her something! Gimme that!"

"Same thing here, pal! You have an eternity anyway!"

"You too, idiot! In case you haven't noticed, souls are eternal!"

The shop owner pressed '0'. Ichigo, unaware of it, put the doll back to its shelf. "Look, here, I got here first; I get to buy it first, alright! Just spare me! I don't want to be in this shop more than you do!"

"Alright, then, let's take this outside!" Renji declared.

At that precise moment, something small and pink hopped onto Ichigo's head, to Renji's head, and finally snatching the doll. Renji and Ichigo shouted in surprise and turned to the source of the menace, Kusajishi Yachiru, who was currently jumping up and down _with the white Chappy doll in her hands_.

"Yay! I can buy it now, can't I, Ken-chan?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure thing", Kenpachi grumbled, itching to get away from this pink-filled place. He tossed her the yen bundle, and she presented it with the doll to the pale shop owner, who served her in a zombie-like manner. Renji and Ichigo just watched dumbstruck as Yachiru made her way out, still bouncing happily. Finally when the duo was gone they stared at each other in turn.

"Uhh..."

"...What now?"

Ichigo directed his gaze to the book shop opposite the place where they were, and an idea snapped into his mind.

"Well, about time someone tell her", he mumbled to himself, leaving Renji without anything else. Renji just stared furiously at the orange head and the book store. Finally he shrugged and made mental note to follow Ichigo. Later.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rukia squealed excitedly. The Kuchiki butler had just told her that mysterious packages had been dropped in front of their door very early in the morning. She knew who sent it, as a matter of fact; she had been waiting for those packages for a long time.

Squealing one last time, Rukia ripped the first package open with almost manic speed...and with the same speed tossed the gift into a trash bin. She opened the second one, this time scowling and slower than before. That gift, too, was sent plunging into the bin the moment it was opened.

Truthfully, the only thing that saved Rukia from scowling and sulking all day long was the necklace Byakuya gave her afterwards, the one that he gave Hisana for their first wedding anniversary. Rukia made it a must to kill Ichigo and Renji later, even though the gifts were nameless.

Who else in the world would give her the book "How to Draw For Dummies"?


	3. Twelve Disappointments

_**Birthday : Yamamoto-Genryuusai Shigekuni**_

**_Date : 21st of January_**

**_Notable things : Inspired by various colorful Bleach omake especially The Game part one and two, although not directly and blatantly taken from there._**

Yamamoto woke up this day with the feeling that there was something special about it. As he was getting ready for work, he couldn't get his mind out of thinking about what was so special about the day. It was the twenty first of January, as far as he could remember, there were no plans made for that day. Nor was it the day someone he knew died, or the day someone he knew celebrated anything.

Finally, when he entered his office and found twelve objects—all wrapped but not all were in any particular shape—sitting on his desk. His vice-captain had casually said, "Today's your birthday, soutaichou."

Then he finally remembered. He sighed. Being a very old soul, even older than most of the others, he had forgotten when his birthday was, nor had he permitted anyone to celebrate it, simply because celebrating every year in the whole two millennia or so wasn't an amusing idea. He was mildly surprised that all the twelve captains knew, and even went as far as to give him something. Along with that, came the realization that this was the moment he was about to dread. So he sat on his chair, rested his cane and took the topmost gift.

It was a plain wrapped gift with an unnamed shape. He opened it and had to blink twice before it. Perhaps someone had mistakenly given him someone else's present. But it was not, as there was a piece of paper saying : **Dear Soutaichou, happy birthday. Soi Fong. **He just had to accept the fact that she gave him a cell phone, the one made by the Shinigami Women Association, much less. If he wasn't mistaken, this cat and hornet hybrid of a cell phone was a rejected idea. He shrugged it off. After all the soutaichou rarely went to human world.

The second one was white in packaging, and was a box in shape. When he unwrapped it, it was a book happily titled: '**From the Ugly Duckling to the Swan : How A Smile Could Attract Women**'. Again, Yamamoto stared at the book, trying to figure out the purpose. It would either be saying that he was ugly, or that he needed to smile more, or simply a way to say that the sender couldn't spend much, time and money, on a present. All of them seemed to be the reason, as he found a note written in Osaka-ben (it was not supposed to be included in written language, he frowned on that) saying: **Dear Yamamoto-soutaichou, you should try reading and applying this book, it's a miracle. Love, Gin.** He raised his eyebrows to the book and put it aside.

The next package was yet another white box, containing a book and a steel box. The book was called '**How to Heal Yourself**', and the box contained a simple healing kit. Did the Fourth Division finally crack? As long as Gotei 13 went, the Fourth Division was always looked down on, told to do trivial things while they also had to heal the injured _shinigami_s without so much as a thank you. He flipped open the letter. As though anticipating that very thought, the letter read: **Yamamoto-soutaichou, this is for emergencies where the Fourth Division can't be relied on to help you. Please use it well.**

He opened another box containing another book. This book, though, had him staring at the title for a long time. '**Why People Love to Stand On The Top'**. Was Aizen trying to somehow insult him? It wasn't very likely, considering that Aizen was sometimes seen being the male version of Unohana. Still, when he peered at the first page, Aizen had scribbled there the message that the book should be useful to him, because it was simply a good and truthful book. Yamamoto wondered idly why he had books with him, or twelve gifts for that matter. They must have been conspiring, he concluded.

The next one was a curiously small package. He contemplated about it being an insult, because after being opened, the gift turned out to be a red envelope with gift vouchers in it. Yamamoto was at loss. He was far from being a child, no one should give him red envelopes. He was not poor either, where did that insolent Kuchiki get his idea to give him this insult? Then again, the gift vouchers could be used to buy the things he really desired as opposed to ready-made gifts that were disappointing. He glanced at the pile of presents and at the red envelope in his hand. It was still rather insulting.

At this moment, Yamamoto was rather wary of continuing his act. He had a bad feeling none of the rest would be pleasant, at least until he stopped prejudicing. So he steeled himself to just accept the gifts and opened the seventh one.

He stared at the yellow vertical pupils. It was a cat doll, figure, whatever. The feline thing was smiling at him with its pearl white teeth. Its right paw was raised and its left paw was holding a gold coin. For a good long minute Yamamoto stared at the white, smiling cat. If he wasn't mistaken, it was used in the modern days as a symbol to invite good luck, or just fortune in business places. Although Komamura did have a hidden obsession with cats, he still couldn't make out what the purpose of the gift was. The cat was supposed to invite fortune, a thing Yamamoto definitely didn't need right now. Still, it was better than the other gifts, and most importantly, it was different.

However, the eight gift was also different. He knew instantly from the bubbly pink wrap whose it was. His sense of dread was proven true when he opened it. He nearly had a heart attack (actually a nosebleed, he wasn't that weak). It was a stack of porn stuffs; the foremost image alone was enough to make him get rid of the things in one swipe. According to Kyouraku he just wanted to 'cheer Yama-jii up because he seems to be very stiff lately'. To Yamamoto, he was just looking for an excuse to buy and gawk at those things without getting his fukutaichou whacking him all over. Yamamoto sighed. Sometimes he wondered how Kyouraku's mentality could stay at a teenager's state.

The next one was rectangular in shape, and in some ways relieved him for a bit. Somehow, it told him that this one would be different from the others. And it was. The gift was a white cane. Yamamoto stared at it. It was a white cane, it should have been appropriate if it had been given to Tousen instead of the blind man to be giving it to the sightful soutaichou. Aside from that, his present cane was Ryujin Jakka, why would he change it? Yamamoto was yet again baffled by his subordinates' common sense, in which they picked things that suited_them _instead of suiting _him_, the one they were giving to. He tossed the white cane to the pile of the previous gifts.

The tenth gift (he was very much disinterested by now) was very thin and small. It turned out to be a simple birthday card, a plain, white, decoration-less card with just the words 'Happy Birthday', neatly handwritten anonymously. Yamamoto shrugged. At least Hitsugaya was sincere.

The eleventh gift was also thin and small, but this time it bore a badly drawn picture of Zaraki Kenpachi and his zanpakuto, with a doodle that was supposedly Yachiru saying in her speech balloon: '**You have won a free battle invitation with Zaraki Kenpachi! Congratulations!**' This particular gift went straight to the trash bin. Until now, Yamamoto still regretted allowing Zaraki to be a captain. He was useful when it came to decimating Hollows, but he was a trouble within Seireitei.

The twelfth package was small and rectangular. When he unwrapped it, it was an opaque cylindrical bulb on a flexible cord attached to a clipper. According to the card that came with it, it could help him reading in the night. Interested that finally something was useful, he pressed the supposed switch, only to have the thing exploded. He stared at the apparatus. Without much thought he threw it into the trash bin. Kurotsuchi, too, was not his dream-captain of the Twelfth Division, what with his tendencies to do anything for research. But, like Zaraki, he was the only one available, and he could come in handy sometimes.

He eyed the last gift warily. What could be that big? He walked over and pulled the wrapper. It was a life size statue of him in his battle mode with flame dancing all over. Ukitake really did have an odd taste when it comes to giving people gifts. This one was quite artistic and realistic, but it was not practical. There was no way he was going to put it anywhere near public. Maybe when his time came at last...

If anything, they served as a reminder why he forbade anyone from celebrating his birthday.


End file.
